Trader Joe’s has a cult following, and it’s no secret why. Despite driving two hours or more to get there and standing in line for long periods, it’s all worth it because their gluten-free items are exceptional.
We combed through the gluten-free aisles at Trader Joe’s and rounded up the best gluten-free Trader Joe’s food that you should try.
Best Gluten-Free Trader Joe’s Food in 2023
Following a gluten-free diet might be helpful, but it can also be challenging. Going gluten-free means “goodbye, tabletop bread” and “see you later, big bowl of Italian pasta.”
But, guess what? It’s not at all horrible. In fact, adopting gluten-free allows you to be even more inventive with your dietary choices, resulting in delectable dishes you may have previously overlooked.
Gluten-free meals can be a little costly. This is the reason Trader Joe’s is a godsend for gluten-free people looking for excellent, savory gluten-free items that are also inexpensive.
We picked the best gluten-free Trader Joe’s food that will surely change the way you eat.
Gluten-Free Everything Bagels
Gluten-Free Everything Bagels by Trader Joe’s are manufactured with a gluten-free blend of brown rice flour, potato flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Tossed in to add flavors are garlic, sea salt, expeller pressed canola oil, and cane sugar, in a specialized gluten-free facility.
They’re rolled with a mixture of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and chunks of dehydrated onion after they’ve been baked. This particular blend of gluten-free flours and starches makes these bagels soft and chewy rather than gritty and grainy and provides a fantastic four grams of protein per serving in a bagel.
Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Everything Bagels have a lovely crust and a slight stiffness to them. These might be the ticket if you are gluten-free and want a bagel-shaped piece of bread.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Baking Mix
Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Baking Mix is simple to prepare and even simpler to consume. You’ll be surprised at how, despite being gluten-free, it tasted nothing like a gluten-free baking mix.
This mix bakes light and airy loaves and muffins that taste like you made them from scratch. Thanks to Trader Joe’s supplier’s expertise in blending gluten-free flours, including sorghum, millet, and brown rice, in just the right proportions.
Nuts and chocolate chips can be added for a bit of texture or sweetness. The box provides instructions for making a single loaf or dozen muffins. Either way, this is a must-have if you enjoy pumpkin bread and are gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Cheese Pizza With A Cauliflower Crust
The Cauliflower Pizza Crust came first. The demand for those treats was so high that Trader Joe’s Italian supplier couldn’t keep up. Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Cheese Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust is now available.
To substitute the wheat flour in a traditional pizza crust, a mixture of cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, potato flour, chickpea flour, and brown rice flour is used. It cooks to perfection, with a soft bite in the center and just-right crunchy around the edges, just as a good pizza should.
This pizza, topped with a conventional tomato-based sauce and a blend of mozzarella and provolone cheeses, would look great on any table, whether gluten-free or not. Enjoy the tangy, cheesy, savory flavors and chewy, crisp around-the-edges crust by baking it at 425 °F for 10-12 minutes.
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
Gone are the days when gluten-free baked products were relegated to the “if we have to” category; these new Muffins prove that gluten-free goodies can be delicious and deserving of praise.
Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins are made with a combination of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and corn starch. They are everything you’d expect in a muffin or coffee cake—minus the gluten.
They’re like single-serve muffin-shaped coffee cakes with “cinnamon pieces” throughout and a topping of cinnamon, brown sugar, and coarse sugar. The resulting dish is incredibly moist and fluffy thanks to the buttermilk and a teaspoon or two of sour cream in the batter.
One of these muffins goes great with your morning coffee or tea, especially if it’s warmed up just a smidgeon before you eat it.
Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese
Trader Joe’s used to offer a frozen Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese in their locations. It was a good, substantial, gluten-free version to conventional Mac, made with rice flour pasta, white Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses.
Trader Joe’s, on the other hand, knew that it might be even better as time went on. So, inspired by their original and immensely famous Diner Mac’ n Cheese, one Buyer set out to make the ideal Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese once and for all—and the rest is history. Or, as we like to call it, cheesetory.
Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese is now created with the exact same four-cheese blend found in our famous Diner Mac—Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, and Gouda, all made with milk from cows not treated with rBST, unlike their prior, two-cheese incarnation. They also add milk and a gluten-free béchamel to this four-cheese mixture, resulting in a cozy dish that’s exceptionally rich and creamy.
Hearts of Palm Pasta
Trader Joe’s latest non-traditional noodle, Hearts of Palm Pasta, takes a break from legumes and alternate grains in favor of something genuinely unusual. Palm hearts are tender, mild-tasting fruits that grow in the middle of palm trees.
Trader Joe’s Ecuadorian supplier uses only palms that have been planted expressly for heart harvesting. The palms aren’t taken down in their sustainable process so that the trees do not get endangered.
A unique technique is used to cut harvested hearts into thin, white threads. This mild-flavored pasta contains no extra ingredients, making it suitable for cooking and tossing various sauces. It is perfect for your Italian-style marinara, Asian-style pad thai, or even your chicken noodle soup.
Organic Veggie Bites
Trader Joe’s Organic Veggie Bites are created with various organic veggies, such as carrots, onions, kale, sweet potatoes, broccoli, celery, tomatoes, and a touch of organic brown rice flour and a sprinkling of crunchy sunflower seeds for texture contrast.
They’re also somewhat larger than your average tot, weighing in about one or two bites each bite – just the right size for dipping in your favorite dipping sauce.
These vegan/gluten-free bites develop a gloriously golden-brown exterior and crisp texture after just a few minutes in the air fryer, frying pan, or conventional oven. They go exceptionally well with ketchup, barbecue sauces, or even more adventurous choices like Trader Joe’s Zhoug Sauce or Vegan Kale.
Being vegan, they are a great side dish for protein patties or an excellent base for vegan tot casserole – an excellent anytime snack for kids of all ages.
Organic Stone Ground Blue Corn Taco Shells
These Blue Corn Taco Shells are crisp, crunchy, and have a light, toasted nutty flavor. They provide the same tactile and structural support for at-home tacos as Trader joe’s Stone Ground Yellow Taco Shells, except with a more appealing blue hue. If you’re feeling up for tacos and you’re on a gluten-free diet, this is your best pick!
Each pack includes 12 ready-to-eat and fill-to-your-heart’s-content shells. They are made from stone-ground corn that is naturally blue. Its blue color and chip-like crunch offer a stunning visual and sensory contrast when stuffed with crisp shredded lettuce, bright red diced tomatoes, and liberally spiced pork or plant-based protein.
Garlic Bread Cheese
You may imagine that Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread Cheese is a garlic bread cheese, as in a cheese flavored like the popular side dish for pizzas and pasta, given their propensity for cuisine mashups. But the truth is that it’s a garlic bread cheese, inspired by a Finnish delicacy that happens to mix well with garlic by idiomatic coincidence.
Master cheesemakers in Wisconsin manufacture it for Trader Joe’s by coating blocks of rich, thick cow’s milk cheese in garlic powder and baking them to a lovely golden-brown hue.
Bread Cheese, also known as juustolepä in Finland, is made without wheat, gluten, or anything else of the sort and derives its name from its thick, bread-like consistency and squeaky, Halloumi-like texture. Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread Cheese, like Halloumi, is best served warm when it’s had a chance to get a little melty and gooey.
Everything But The Gluten Crackers
Trader Joe’s Everything But the Gluten Crispbread Crackers are identical to the original Crispbreads in terms of super-crunchiness and a mixture of seeds and grains. They do, however, deviate from the original formulations in two respects.
First, they’re smaller, cut into rectangles approximately the size of two bites. They’re more in line with what you’d expect from a standard cracker. Second, these Crispbread Crackers are seasoned with a proprietary blend that closely resembles Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning.
White and black sesame seeds, granulated onion, dry minced garlic, and salt are among them. Whether you eat them alone or with a spread, the mix of crispbread and flavorful spice is out of this world.
Are Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Products Safe For Celiacs?
According to Trader Joe’s website, “If you see “Gluten-Free” on a Trader Joe’s product, this means that the product has been validated to contain less than 20 ppm of gluten (or made in a certified gluten-free facility). Individuals with Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity must avoid gluten for their health.”
Because of the components, some people prefer to eat some goods that aren’t clearly labeled gluten-free. Trader Joe’s has previously claimed in emails, “We do have many products that are made in facilities that don’t process gluten, even though it’s not labeled gluten-free. Generally, [the reason it’s not labeled] is because the supplier doesn’t want to pay for certification.”
How To Find Gluten-Free Trader Joe’s Food?
If you’ve ever been to Trader Joe’s, you’re probably wondering where all the gluten-free goodies are. There are two reasons for this:
- Gluten-free labels are usually small and on the back of the package!
- You haven’t utilized their Dietary List before (or even know it exists).
The small size of the gluten-free letters on the box can be frustrating. It should not be necessary to use bifocals to read that it is gluten-free.
If you’ve never heard of the “list,” it’s a handy list of every gluten-free product in the supermarket. This means that gluten-free bagels will be available, but the produce will not. This does not rule out the possibility of brussels sprouts being gluten-free.
It simply means that naturally gluten-free foods such as fruit and olive oil will be excluded from the list.
Conclusion
If you’re gluten-free and fed up with bad cuisine, Trader Joe’s is a must-visit! Make sure to inquire about the gluten-free menu at the customer service desk. It’s possible that some of the cashiers are unaware of its existence.
It would be best if you also kept in mind that while many of their goods are fantastic, not all of them will be, and that’s fine. Not every gluten-free product is also delicious. You’ll discover your favorites, and they’ll be well worth your money!